Loose-leaf binder and method of forming the same



Sept. 20, 1932. R. M. WATSON LOOSE LEAF BINDER AND METHOD OF. FORMINGTHE SAME Filed April 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

.4 TTORNEY.

Sept. 20, 1932. R. M. WATSON 8, 9

LOOSE LEAF BINDER AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME Filed April 27, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEY'.

i atented Sept 20, 1932 Ari NT orries RICHARD M. WATSON, or nn'rnorm,MICHIGAN L OOSE LEAF BINDER AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME Applicationfiled April 27,

This invention relates to loose-leaf binders and method of forming thesame, and it has to do partircnlarly with that type of binder havingoval paper retaining means and plate '5 connecting means. V

Loose-leaf binders of the type having :oval vpaper retaining rings andplate connecting members are old in the ar but they have presented manyobjection-s, not only as to is an unusually large production cost, butalso due to the shape of the paper retaining rings and the tendency ofthe ring members to become loose due to the method of assembly.

These plate-type members of the prior art "a have also beenobjectionable due to the height of the shell or base memberwhich'heretofore has been necessary in order to give the plates and thering members the necessary spring load.

"26 It is the object of the present-invention to provide .a paperretaining and connecting means of the highly desirable oval ring'iandplate type, but which is so fabricated and assembled as to present avery neat and 2t aesthetic appearance, and which novel articlematerially reduces the operation hitherto necessary inwassembly, permits:a shell structure which is extremely itlat,- and makes use of paperretaining members which are not so only in such shape'as to tend toprevent all tearing or distortion of the paper but which are positivelysecured to the plate members. The .f orming of this novel base structurefor loose-leaf binders is accomplished by embodying several novel methodsteps, one of which incalndes the method of fabricating the ringmembers, which embodies the idea of simultaneouslyformingtwo ringmembers from apredetermined length of drawn oval 40 stock, whereby theproduction cost and'the time fabrication is not only decreased, but the.two members are given a very novel shape and are so formed as to retainall toughnesswand tensile strength of the-original idrawn vSlZOCk.

Another novel feature of the present invention resides in thefabrication of the ring-supporting plates and method of forming andassembling the same. Each plate is provided with suitable slots forreceiving aper- 1928. Serial in. 273,470)

tion of the novelformed ring members and the ring member itself is sofolded orbent as to securely position the same to the plate in contrastto the prior art method of milling one end of the paper retainingmember'and 56 then swedging the same in place. Furthermore, instead ofeach ring supporting plate having retaining lug-s for-med and extendinglaterally from the inner edge thereof, I profor to form one plate withsmall retaining 00 lugs extending laterally therefrom and the otherplate with fo'ldable lugs, which lugs are fabricated from the plateitself and initially bent upwardly to permit assembly f the two platesafter which the lugs are 08 bent over into position in order to keep theplates engaged.

This latter feature enfbodies-a very novel method of assembly, in that"the shell for the base member have'initiall-y tnrneclnver 70longitudinalbeads on each side thereof which may be'formed at thetime-the shel l is initial.- ly fabricated. The platesmay then beinserted to contact with each bead, and the especially formed lugs onone plate' bent in position (a to insure the necessary spring load.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the formationof-the end portions of the shell structure, wherein they-are bent overand inwardly in para'l laelrelation to'rthe top of the shell, said endportions being formed with apertures which register each other when theend portions are 'rtnnned inwardly. This permits of the riveting of theshell str-ucture-to'the back'of'ithe binder 3:3 1

and provides a shell which has a smooth sun face extending practicallythe length 'of the binder. In order to completely :conceabthe rivethead, I have provided means for-phmg ging or filling up the exposed"aperture, in 90. each end of the shell. 7

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the step of forming theiringmembersfor my base assembly. =05

Fig. :2 is also a diagrammatic view illustrating a possible second stepinthemethod of forming and these rin-gmembers.

.Fig. is a detail view ofth'e finished drrplicate ring members.

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3, and showing the ring members snappedapart or sepa rated.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of my novel plate or ring-supportingmembers illustrating particularly the manner of forming the lugs thereonprior to assembly of the plate member and also showing a ring member indotted lines.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66 of 5 and illustrating the manner ofsecurmg the ring member to a supporting plate.

Fig. 7 is an inverted plan View illustrat ng the assembled base memberready to be attached to the back of the binder.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the base member as assembled when positioned onthe binder back. 7

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on line 10'10 of Fig. 9 and showing inparticular the compact and extremely flat shell member.

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 and showing the ring members 111open position and also illustrating the compactness of the base member,in that the space wthin the shell is completely Ealfen. up by themovement 01 late mem ers. Fi g. 12 is a view taken on line 12 -12 ofFig. 9' and illustratin g the preferred manner of plug -mg up theapertures used for riveting the base members to the back.

The base structure embodying the present invention is in generalconstruction similar ty) the finished standard base structurenowutilized in the bet er grade of loose-leaf binders; that is, those ofthcplate, oval-r1ng type.

Therings, however, instead or being formed in substantiall asemi-circleand having milled-out 811(l 13OYUOnS, are formpd by taking apredetermined length or oval orawn wire, as shown at 1, and subg ectingthe same to a suitable transverse forming action, such as by means ofdie members and 3. These die members are preferably shaped, as shown,whereby to simultaneouslyforzn and shape two separate ring members in asingle operation. It may be desirable, as shown in F 1g. 2, to utilizesecond die members 4: and 5 to shape the ends 6 of the member 1. Thissecond operation is not necessary, as the ring members may be shapedsubstantially as shown in a single operation.

In forming the duplicate r1 ng members th e central portion of thelength of stock 1 is given an inverted W formation in order to obtainthe peculiar formation for one end of each ring member for the purposeto be. presently described.

It will beunderstood, of course, that the apex of the central part ofthe W may vary in angularity, whereby the two halves may assumedifferent angles relative to each wh The point is that the forming ofthe outer ends of this'member 1 is merely a bending operation whether inone or two operations, and that the forming of the inverted W portion isa relatively slight stamping or flattening operation whereby the partsof the wire constituting this inverted W are flattened to destroy theoriginal oval shape of the wire.

Informing the members shown in Fig. 3 the die is preferably so formed asto provide a slight break or indentation 7 whereby the duplicate membersof the initially formed piece of stock 1 maybe readily snapped in two toform the two separate ring members 8 and 9, as shown in Fig. 4.

The plate in which the ring members are secured is preferably providedwith rectangular slots 10, and as-the bottom of each ring members 8 and9 is formed with the right angular portions 11 and 12, the portion 12 ofeach ring member may be inserted through the rectangular opening 10 andthen bent or stamped over in the position shown in F ig. 6

to securely lock and locate the ring to the plate. This stampingoperation may be accomplished by holding a suitable anvil under 5 theportion 11 of this ring or the ring may be assembled in any othersuitable manner, the point being that a portion of the ring is itselfinserted through an aperture in the plate and bent over upon itself tosecurely tie the ring to the plate by a very simple assembly operation.This materially reduces the cost of manufacturing of the'ring member inaddition to materially reducing the time required in the assembly ofthering members and the plate. The rigidity and compactness obtained isobvious.

Due to this novel method of assembling the ring members and the platemember I have I made it possible to give the ring member a very peculiarand novel formation, in that, as shown in Fig. 6, the base portion 13 ofthe ring member is substantially vertical 'or at right angles to theplate 14, and the top portion 15 thereof is so curved as to cooperatewith the adjacent ring member. This peculiar construction is madepossible by the right angular formation 11 of the ring member which ispressed against and extends parallel with the plate member 14, the novelcon struction of which will be readily obvious by comparison with thestandard ring members of the priorart.

One of the plate members 14 is provided with suitable struck-out andlip-turned lugs 16, which lugs are formed from theplate itself and areof such a length that when turned down, as shown in Fig. 7 they willextend slightly beyond the edge of the plate.

semi-circular 7 1 having each end provided with two apertures 20 and 21,each end of this shell being bent 21 of the shell.

inwardly whereby the aperture 21 is positioned to meet and register withthe aperture 20; The longitudinal edges of the shell are turned induring the initial formation of the shell and these edges, as shown at22 and 23,

iii-Fig. 7 extend the full length of the shell.

without being distorted or cut away. The

shell itself is preferably stamped to provide a slight angularformation, that is, to provide two top surfaces 24 and 25 which are at aslight angle to the horizontal to correspond with the position of theplate members 14 and I 2. The method of forming paper recelving 17,- asshown in Fig. 11. V

In assembling the plate members in the shell structure the platemember 11 With the struck'-up lugs 16 is first positioned within the shell, thering members being inserted through suitableapertures in the shell, andthe other plate member 17 is then inserted in place so that the twoplate-members are in the position shown in Fig. 11. It will beunderstood, herethat the inturned edges 22 and 23 of the shell arepermanently shaped and that the plates are merely inserted, each withone edge in its respective bead. With the plate members in the positionshown in Fig. '11 the lugs l6 are pressed inwardly to engage the edge'ofthe opposite plate member and to give the entlre assembly the necessaryspring -When the lugs are thus bent inwardly it will be seen that thebase member is complely assembled. It furthermore w1ll be 7 obvious thatthe respective plates with their ring members may be moved with a veryquiet but positive and quick act-ion, equal in both directions, and thatalthoughthe top portions of the respective spring members 1 maybe openedto the normal distance, the

plate members themselves move only through a relatively small path.. Theshell member,

is very flat, due to the fact that the complete assembly is obtained bybending down the lugs instead of bending over one of the beads after theplates are inserted.

The base member is secured to the back of the binder by insertingsuitable rivets through the'back and throughtheaperture Such rivet-s,which may be designated 26, as shown in Fig. 12, may be riveted overby'the insertion of a. suitable tool through the aperture 20 in the topof ti e shell. After this riveting of the shell to the base I preferablyinsert asuitable plug 27 which is so shaped as to fit the aperture 20and which also is provided with downwardly extending portions 28 whichare so designed as'to spread outwardly whenthe plug is inserted inposition, whereby to lock the same into position." It will be obviousthat this plug 27 may be buffed over or smoothed to correspond with thesurfaceof the shell. P

'. VVhatI claim is:

1. The method of forming paper receiving and supporting 'I'neansforiloose-leaf binders, which comp'rises bending a portion of wire tofornithe'main portion of a ring member, transverselybending and stampinga portion of said wire to form. a flattened portion comprising twolegssubstantially at right angles to each other, and inserting one ofthe said legsv through an aperture in a supporting plate whereby-theother leg-rests flat against the plate, and bending the first leg overin parallel relation to the second whereby to clamp the ringmember' tothe plate.

and supportingmeans for loose leaf binders, which comprises bending aportion of wire to form the main portion of a ring member, transverselybending and stamping a portion of said wire to form a flattened portioncomprising two legs at substantially right angles to each other, andinserting one of the said legs through an aperture in a supporting platewhereby the other leg rests fiat against the plate, and bending thefirst leg'over in sz-arallel relation'to the second whereby. to clampthe ring member to the plate, the porti on of the paper retaining partof said ring the plate and turned upwardly, inserting said 1- platemembers within the preformed flanges of said shellwhereby theirrespective edges are engaged, and then turning down said lug member toretain said plates in assembled p0sition. i

4. The steps in the-method of fabricating and assembling base membersfor loose-leaf binders, which comprise forming a shell structure withlongitudinal inturned flanges along two edges thereof, inserting springmembers at corresponding positions in two complementa'l'plates, one ofsaid plates being provided with a lug member struck out-from the edge ofthe plate and turned upwardly,

inserting said plate members within the pre-,

formed flanges ofsaid shell whereby their adjacent edges are in contact,and then turning down said lug member to retain said plates inassembledposition, without disturb ing either of said beadsi 1- 5. Thesteps in the method of fabricating and assembling base members forloose-leaf binders, which comprise forming a shell member with preformedinwardly turned longitudinal flanges at each side thereof, securing ringmembers at corresponding points in two complemental plate members, oneof which plate members is provided with upturned lugs, inserting theplate member having the bomplemental plate members whereby one isprovided with upstanding lug members and the other is provided withtransversely eX- tending lug members substantially in the plane of theplate, first positioning the plate with the upstanding lug memberswithin the shell and retaining edge, and then inserting the second platewithin the shell alongside the first plate without distorting saidretaining edges, whereby said transverse lugs of the second insertedplate engage the other plate, and then turning down said upturned lugsto engage the opposite complemental 1 plate whereby to retain the platesin as-.

sembled position.

7. The method of fabricating and assembling base members for loose'leafbinders, which comprises forming a shell member of a single piece ofstock having longitudinal inturned edges and end members turned over inparallel relation to said bead members and the top of the shell, saidinturned end members and the top of the shell having registeringapertures, inserting a plate member having upturned lugs adjacent theedge thereof within the shell and inserting a second plate member havingpermanently formed lug members adjacent the edge thereof within theshell, said permanent lugs engaging said first plate member withoutdisturbing the said inturned beads, turning down said lug members tosecure said plate members in assembled relation with the shell, securingthe shell member to the back of the binder by means of rivets extendingthrough one of the aperturesat each end of the shell, and closing theother aperture at each end of the shell.

8. A base member for a loose-leaf binder, comprising in combination aonepiece shell, pivotally mounted plates adjacently positioned in saidshell and carrying cooperating paper-retaining members, each of saidpaperretaining members having a portion of substantially unreducedcross-section extending through its supporting plate and turned there.against in alignment with said member, a portion, of eachpaper-retaining member'extending outwardly and parallel with the top ofeach plate to the edge thereof and then substantially at right anglesthereto, the

turned over portion of' each member being the sole means for rigidlysecuring the'memher to the plate, whereby the retaining members andplates move as aunit in said shell.

9. A base member for a loose-leaf binder comprising ahousing andcomplementallypositioned plates and paper-receivinglmems bers, theplates being formed with openings to receive substantially unreducedend, of the members and the members being formed of heavy and stifi ovalwire and preformed so that the outer half of each member is arcuate inshape to receive paperand the inner portion shaped to present a squareshoulder with the plate, said pro-formed and rigid members beingpermanently secured to the plates by the deformation of the unreducedportion protruding through the openmgs.

10. A base member for loose-leaf binders of the type having backs,consisting of three parts, a one-piece shell directly secured to theback of the binder and oppositely positioned ring carrying plate membersretained by and movable within the shell, the longitudinal edges of theshell being inturned to receive the outer edges of the plate members andthe complete height of said shell being substantially equal to thedistance of movement of said plate members, said plate mem-. here beingprovided with paper retaining members having an upper curved part and alower part extending substantially at right angles to the plate, eachmemberfbeing secured to the plate by having a portion there of beingfolded over against the plate.

llQA base member for loose-leaf binders comprising a pair of oppositelypositioned plate members, a shell having inturned edges for positioningand retaining said plate members, said plate members being fulcrumed attheir outer edge against said inturned edges, and paper-retainer ringssecured to each plate member and oomplementally posidicular alignmentwith a point on the inner edge'of the plate. 7 12. A base member forloose-leaf binders comprising a pair of oppositely positioned platemembers, a shell having inturned edges for positioning and retainingsaid plate members, said plate members being fulcrumed at their outeredge against said inturned edges, and paper-retainer rings secured toeach plate member and complementally positioned so as to receive andretain paper, each plate being provided with apertures positionedapproximately centrally of the width thereof, the free ends of each ringbeing permanently formed and shaped and extending outwardly parallelwith the plate and then extending away from the pate substantially atright angles thereto and terminating in a curved portion the end ofwhich is substantially in perpendicular alignment with a point on theinner edge of tht plate, the parallel portion of the ring adjacent theplate and the right angular portion of the ring meeting at a pointclosely adjacent the outer edge of the plate the inner end of each ringextending through said apertures and being bent over in alignment withsaid parallel portion to permanently clamp the plate therebetween.

13. The method of forming paper receiving and supporting means forloose-leaf binders, of the type having oppositely positioned plates andsplit rings which comprises transversely distorting a length of wire bybending .a portion of the same to form v the main portion of a ringmember half and forming the end of said wire to provide two flattenedlegssubstantially at right angles to each other, one leg being formed atsubstantially right angles to the main part of the ring whereby to forma shoulder, inserting one of said legs through an aperture in one ofsaid plates whereby the other leg. rests fiat against the plate and aportion of the ring member extends at right angles to the plate, andbending the first leg over in paralel relation to the second whereby topermanently clamp the plate between the said two legs. r

14. A base member for a loose-leaf binder consisting of a one-pieceshell and oppositely positioned plates retained by and movable withinthe shell, theheight of the shell being substantially equal to thegreatest path of movement of any part of the plates, and oppositelypositioned paper-receiving members carried by each plate and having endscompletely protruding through apertures formed in the plate, the portionof each member immediately above the aperture being flattened againstand extending to the outer edge of its plate and the portion of eachmember protruding through said apertures being turned over parallel tosaid upper flattened portion whereby to permanent 1y secure the platestherebetween.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

RICHARD M. WATSON.

